After the fact, Billy Ward just sounded tired of the way this season had gone. And a little ticked off.
The Syracuse Orange had been outclassed in the first 30 minutes against No. 4 North Carolina at the Carrier Dome, their usually-fluid offense having to work as hard as they have all year just to get clean shots off. Down 6-3 heading into the locker room, last year’s national runner-up was watching a berth in their conference tournament slip away to another top-five opponent — and the gap between itself and the nation’s elite was threatening to become very, very clear.
But Ward, the senior from Baldwinsville, had something to say to his team, and it was surprisingly simple.
“Just play like we do in practice,” Ward said of his halftime message, his voice just a little on edge. “After the Duke game everyone started questioning our heart. This team has more heart than any one I’ve ever been on. Just be us, and we’re going to be great.”
30 minutes of regulation, almost 10 minutes of two sudden death periods and one golden goal later, and the Orange made that statement loud and clear — to themselves as much as everyone else.
Ward scored the winning goal with under three minutes to go in double overtime, propelling the Orange (8-3, 2-3 ACC) to a thrilling 11-10 win over the Tar Heels (9-3, 2-3 ACC) in front of an electric crowd of over 6,600 on Saturday night. Kevin Rice had three goals in the win for Syracuse, which clinched its spot in the ACC tournament in two weeks.
“It was a great game for college lacrosse today,” Syracuse head coach John Desko said. “The hits, the back and forth, the saves, just a great game for college lacrosse and a great win here in the Carrier Dome.”
The final 40 minutes were a wild back-and-forth, a furious Syracuse rally almost spoiled by the fantastic effort from Carolina goalie Kieran Burke. The Orange came out of the locker room a different team, led by a remarkable effort at the face-off X from much-maligned senior Chris Daddio. The goat of last year’s championship collapse to Duke, Daddio continued to show improvement as 2014 wears on — he won 18 of 26 face-offs on the day, including 12 of 15 in the second half and overtime. For seemingly the first time in years, the Orange got possession after possession, finally wearing down the Tar Heels athletic pressure defense.
“I’m not going to be happy until we get back to Memorial Day weekend [for the Final Four],” Daddio said. “We’ve just been working so hard to finish up the rest of the season unlike the way we started. I could care less about my stats to be honest, as long as we end up with the ball and we win.”
Nothing came easy for the Syracuse attack, but they started to play with patience and poise, moving the ball, drawing slides and eventually finding an opening. Slowly but surely, frustrated shots from 15 yards and out were replaced by the familiar sight of dives to the net and easy goals.
“We were just making smart dodges, dodging hard drawing a slide and just moving the ball on them, as the game went on that started to work and that’s all we had to do. It’s not really trying to make a circus play,” Nicky Galasso said. “It’s more dodging hard, moving the ball and your teammates will find each other. As the game went on that started to work and that’s all we had to do.”
As the Carolina offense could only watch, a Galasso goal capped a 6-2 run that gave the Orange its first lead of the night with under eight minutes to play. But things were just getting started from there.
The Tar Heels responded immediately, picking up two goals to regain the lead with less than three minutes to play. Syracuse committed two late turnovers as they tried to equalize, giving Carolina possession with under a minute left. Coming out of a timeout, though, the Heels were given a stall warning, giving the ball back to the Orange with less than 30 seconds left and one last chance to send it to overtime.
“i thought it came a little quick to be honest,” Carolina attackman Jimmy Bitter said. “Especially after the timeout, they called it within 15-20 seconds.”
After a series of timeouts before the final possession, Kevin Rice scrambled, scrambled and scrambled some more, eventually running around the net and firing a turnaround shot that beat Burke to the near post and tied the game. Syracuse almost won it in regulation after Daddio won the face-off and got it ahead to Rice, who found Dylan Donahue streaking toward the crease. Donahue received the pass, but his falling shot at the buzzer went just above the crossbar.
The first overtime was a series of agonizing near misses for the Orange, as Burke did everything but stand on his head to keep his team in the game. Donahue had one attempt for close range hit the crossbar, and the Tar Heel goalie saved three other shots in the five-minute period. The game opened up considerably, the Carolina defense gassed — head coach Joe Breschi opted not to substitute his short-stick midfielders for much of the game — but no one could break through.
“He’s just a great goalie,” Galasso said. “We knew our opportunities were going to come, but you really have to give him credit. Billy put one in the back of the net though, and that’s all that matters.”
After Daddio won his 18th and final face-off of the night, the Syracuse attack started probing again, and after Randy Staats forced a defensive slide, Ward took it home from there.
“It was a blur, really,” Ward said of his game-winner. “I knew Randy would find me, and he did, so I just tried to let it fly. You see the net move and you’re like ‘What just happened?’ and the next thing you know you’re being tackled by a bunch of guys.”
The goal set off an explosion at the Dome, less a cheer than just one collective sigh of relief. A season of so much promise, that had started to spiral so quickly, was reborn, at least for one night. There’s plenty more mountain to climb, and the Orange are quick to remind everyone that this is only a start — Ward spent more time talking about next weekend’s home clash with Hobart than his late-game heroics.
But this was a start, if nothing else. And it all started with going back to practice.
Syracuse's postgame news conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBQvgKNX_Ec
UNC's postgame news conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqy1BbQv6Iw
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